How Is This Night Different? (Mah nishtanah)

Unknown

11th Century

You, our Eternal God, are the essence of praise, and the universal sovereign. You are the one who performed miracles1 for our ancestors on these dates. You, our Eternal God, are the essence of praise and the universal sovereign. You have granted us a continuation of our lives and allowed us to reach this occasion.

Having drunk the contents of the…

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This Passover Haggadah text, preserved in the Cairo Geniza and written on parchment, presents a striking medieval version of the Passover ritual. This version of the Mah nishtanah (Four Questions; lit., “How is [this night] different”), which has ancient roots (see m. Pesaḥim 10), reflects different practices from those usual today. Among the hundreds of copies of texts for the seder, this text stands out for its calligraphic hand. The instructions are in Judeo-Arabic, the prayers are in Hebrew, and the midrash is in Aramaic. Italicized words, apart from the Hebrew biblical verses, are in Judeo-Arabic. The last paragraph is in Aramaic.

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Early Medieval Prose Liturgy

5th to 12th Century
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What is the Cairo Geniza?

10th to 13th Century

The Cairo Geniza collection is one of the most important sources for the history of the Jewish community in premodern Egypt and the entire medieval Mediterranean world.

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